Victoria man sentenced to 16 years in prison for indecency with a child

By
Jessica Priest
March 21, 2013 at 11:01 p.m.Updated March 21, 2013 at 10:22 p.m.

A Victoria man was sentenced to 16 years in prison Wednesday after he pleaded guilty to indecency with a child.

Isauro Cayetano, 31, originally was charged in December with continuous sex abuse of a child with a victim under age 14 and indecency with a child with sexual contact.

Assistant Criminal District Attorney Eddie Wilkinson said he abandoned the sex abuse of a child charge because of the victim's family's concerns, not because he didn't have enough evidence.

"The reason I dropped it was to avoid putting the victim through the experience of a jury trial and to achieve a quick resolution without dragging out the process longer than necessary," he said.

Defense attorney Tali Villafranca could not be reached for comment.

Cayetano was accused of abusing the child from February 2008 to March 2010 and on Feb. 16, 2005, according to the indictment.

Cayetano will not be eligible for parole until after he serves eight years in prison. He also will be required to register as a sex offender and may face deportation because he is in the country illegally, Wilkinson said.